You throw the ball. You catch the ball. You hit the ball…Of course, baseball fans know that this line from Bull Durham is far from true, part of the humor of the movie and a huge part of the fun of the game. This blog is a space to talk about baseball, being a baseball fan, all of those things that make the game fun and the Angels, because they make baseball fun for me.

Ferris Angels’ Day Off…Sans Feel Good Ending

Mistakes happen. Everyone has a bad day now and then. I’ll do better next time. Combine these thoughts with a genuine I’m sorry and, in the real world, all are perfectly valid responses to failures. And, chances are, your boss’ annoyance will blow over, you’ll learn from your mistake and continue on with your work becoming an even stronger employee for the educational experience. …except when times are tough and, for better or worse, things are coming to an end.

Packing box encounters of the worst kind!

I started working for a well known mortgage bank in 2006, when the industry was still flush. I stayed with that same company for the next four years through a lot of…ah…well…Downturn? Recession? Near depression? I forget what term the economists eventually settled on, but at any rate, it was centered around my industry and it miiiight have stretched just a little bit farther than that to…well…everywhere. Heck, I think it might have even made the news. ;)

Suffice to say, texting my husband who was out of work at the time (same industry) “If the FDIC walks through *****’s doors today, on a scale of 1 to 10, just how screwed are you and I, because judging from the way the execs are behaving today, this is not an if…” is not something I ever want to do again. But that experience, and the two years of layoff musical chairs that followed, did put me a great position to know that when the excrement is hitting the proverbial fan, as human as it is to want a slack day, you take one at your own peril.

And that’s what the Angels took Friday night, a slack day. How else does one explain taking such a shellacking from the mighty offensive force that is the Twins lineup without Thome, Morneau, Mauer and Young? Our pitchers throwing balls and giving up walks like they were going out of style? The slumbering bats? The fielding errors? The lackadaisical defense? Total slack day.

Nooooooo! I'm not ready to pack up baseball for the winter and the Angels shouldn't be either.

Sure, everyone needs a kickback day from time to time. But when you come into work every couple of weeks to find a new, large stack of boxes lining the walls, making it convenient for security to hand them to whole departments or sections at a time for ease of packing up their desks? (And I know all too many of you know just what I mean) Yeah, this would not be the time for a kick back day. This would be the time to bust your ass, going above and beyond for the team. True, it’s different for most ballplayers. They make millions of dollars and many of them know they are coming back next season. But, Angels, do you remember how much it absolutely sucked to pack up your lockers in boxes at the end of September last season? Rumors were rife with how grumpy some of you were signing autographs that day and I can understand why. So let’s do everything we can to keep those boxes in storage for as long as we can, shall we?

I managed to somehow still have an office chair every time the music stopped.by making myself always useful, accurate, willing to bust my ass and take on an additional duty or three, and through no small amount of luck too. And this is what the Angels need now. No more mistakes. Yes, mistakes are human but when you’re close to the end of the season in such dire straits, there simply is no margin for error. No slack days. The Angels can have their fun, but they need to do so while winning every series in September, especially the one against Texas. Sweeping a few would be even better. Hey, I said this was possible, I didn’t say it was easy. And managers? The best team needs to be out on the field every day. If we are behind and offensively slacking, switch things up before the 9th inning please. Better yet, put the best bats out there in the first place. And here’s the luck part. We need Texas to lose more often than we do. A tall order indeed.

A tall order, but I’m not ready to give up hope yet. I left all residual exasperation from last night on the bike trail this morning. I’m psyched for tonight’s game and already hunting for a great deal on tickets for Monday and possibly next weekend. In short, I’m in this until the end. Are you, Angels? How about making us all believe it? Tonight. Sunday. Next week. And right on through September.

2 Comments

Kristen-sometimes you make your own luck, and it seems like you’ve been doing that with hard work. The Angels (and other teams) can do the same thing. Baseball is a game of inches, and by running a little faster, getting a better jump on the ball, and thinking a play or two ahead, they can make the post-season with (hopefully) the Tigers!
–Mike
‘Minoring In Baseball’

Thanks Mike! Yeah, I think most folks had to make their own luck to get through the last few years becuase natural luck was in short supply. I hope the timing of your post didn’t mean you were stuck working on the holiday! I think it might be a squeaker, but the Tigers seems to have the AL Central wrapped up…as for the West, damn but this is exciting. :)

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